About Howard Weitzman
In August 2009, attorney Howard Weitzman commented on court proceedings regarding the estate of Michael Jackson. Weitzman stated that the court approved a film deal with Columbia Pictures and deferred approval of deals with AEG and Bravado. He described the deals as "outstanding, unique once-in-a-lifetime deals" that would bring substantial revenue to the estate.
Weitzman noted that the court appointed a guardian ad litem for Jackson's children due to a perceived possible conflict between the children's interests and those of Katherine Jackson. He explained that Katherine Jackson remained the children's guardian for care and custody, while a third party would oversee the children's financial and legal interests. Weitzman expressed that it was "unfortunate" that Katherine Jackson and her advisors objected to the proposals, but acknowledged that the court allowed her input.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Howard Weitzman's recent appearances.
Browse all interviews →
Transcript (3 segments)
H
Howard Weitzman0:18
Today the court approved the Columbia film deal for the rehearsal footage, with a release date anticipated release date of October 29th. The court put over till next Monday the approval of the AEG and the Bravado deals. I think it's unfortunate Mrs. Jackson and her advisors objected to the proposals, but this court has been kind enough to give Mrs. Jackson a voice and allow her some input. I believe both deals will be approved next Monday. The Bravado deal is the merchandising deal. The AEG deal deals with the exhibit of memorabilia for Michael and also they helped put together the video that Columbia is going to distribute.
Of some significance was the court appointing a guardian ad litem for the children at some point this morning. The court believed that it was possible there was a conflict between Mrs. Jackson's interest and the children's interest, and it's quite normal for courts in these situations to appoint a third-party objective neutral individual to look out for the children's financial interest and the children's legal interest, and that's what Judge Beckoff did this afternoon. So Mrs. Jackson remains the guardian of the children, that is their care and custody is hers to take care of and for her to look after them, but a third party will be the guardian of the estate of the children and that person will look after the legal and financial interest of the children.
Well, by second guest, the deals that John Branca, John McClain, and Joel Katz put together in both the Columbia Pictures and the AEG and the Bravado deals were outstanding, unique, once-in-a-lifetime deals which would bring substantial revenues to the estate. And our hope was that Mrs. Jackson and the people that advise her would see how wonderful those deals are. I believe they ultimately will, and I'm confident the court will ultimately approve the deals.
